Gathering of An Army

Session 10

They wait in their hideaway, hoping for a plan to come to them. Finally, they decide on ambush. A plan is formed for the three sneaky critters to attack on all sides, with the massive one and Oracle to follow behind. Their plan begins flawlessly (almost impressive).

The team prepares for an attack in hopes of capturing at least one of them. They have their goal, and they know that their lives and their family’s lives certainly depend on it.

The one in black disappears, though seemingly teleporting to the back of a soldier (perhaps he may prove useful, as well). Battle insues, as the trap is sprung. Smoke is stirred by the Oracle finally displaying some of her power, though I certainly would not call it impressive or all-mighty by any stretch.

During the confusion, one manages to make it off with the dark one (They will be taught a lesson for this mistake), though not alone as they are followed by Rusk. Grolluck and his pet make headway towards the camp to safety with their capture in tow, however they have been unable to lose the attention of the other one. He gives chase.

After some time, once the situation has been realized between all of them, Harman manages to convince their captor that he is a messenger for the Dark Army, and is taken to the camp. His silver tongue gets him access to a slew of minions and rations to rebuild their supplies. Just hours after, they begin tracking their lost companion towards the west.

Days go by, until they finally make their way out of the desert and into the mountains. Another day and they find themselves at the abode of the old friend Liam. He holds them off for a time with his clever tricks, though their combined wits apparently outmatch his as they soon discover his illusion. Their travels past the guardians lead them high into the mountains, and on the red road.

Their orders have kept them on track at a steady pace, and they find themselves swiftly on their way to the Caves.

Session 9

As they sit down for watch, another watches them. A creature flies above acknowledging their presence, before taking leave. In the morning, they continue their journey towards the horizon, which begins to grow ever darker. The skies flood with black as the lands soon follow suit. The ashed sand becomes drenched, though their relief only lasts but moments. The ground becomes soaked with the rains, which quickly fade away.

The softened ground allows the creature to feel his prey approach sooner still, though waits for the foolish one breaking from the group to trample overhead. It attacks, though barely missing its attack. Not out of discomfort yet for the creature, 5 heads of serpent red streaked with black and gold, tunnels from below to strike once again. Few blows are struck by the hydras fang, as the group is able to avoid its flashes. The soldier in black spends his time at the belly of the beast, striking away though in vain. Meanwhile, the Oracle is sent away to her safety yet again, as the barbarous girl jumps into the fray. The silver-tongued devil and the mage stand aside a safe distance while their companions throw themselves into danger.

Soon enough they are able to disable the creature, though too benighted to understand their enemy. Soon enough again it attacks, and again they strike with greater fervor. This attempt brings the same result, though with their quick retreat followed.

Their travels bring them west towards the horizon once again, and just again the horizon darkens. Though this account is brought upon by a cloud of dust risen by the army traveling once more across the desert. They take up refuge in a crevasse, underneath a camouflaged awning. It is here that they bide their time once more on the foot of a great power.

Session 8

What is left of our friends finds themselves within the confines of a city. That is, if you can call a bunching of tents a city. However, they have posed quite a bit of a problem in recent ventures. Escorted into the tents, they are separated into not dead, dead, and almost dead. The almost dead (that being the so-called leader) is brought back to the conscious and delivered to his friends. They seem to be treated well enough, though who knows what the circumstances outside of their tent may be.

It appears that they’re situation is favorable, as they are treated to a feast in honor of their fallen ally. A contest of strength and will is had between the soldiers and one of their warriors. She easily defeats the two wiry ones, however the talkative one appears to have something up his sleeve, as he finds a way to at least tie the beast of a woman.

Several days pass in eagerness until the chief comes back with words of wisdom from his spirit guides (foolishness). They heed his words and travel off, lead by the warrior woman.

Unfortunately, not a step is stuttered as even the risen brother’s of the sand warriors cannot keep them from their journey onward. They continue towards our goal.

Session 7

The morning wakes them with the sound of fighting. Not an external enemy though, but an internal one. The magic one appears to have come to a mental break as he fights for the survival of the lizard head. Him and the female argue, as the dark one attempts to break the tension. In the end, it is the Oracle who brings him to reality and causes him to break through, crashing back to the real world. After some further arguing between the oracle and the female, they continue on.

Coming across a bandit camp, the dark one decides to make friends. Approaching them, arrows are fired in their direction as they make their escape. Another attempt to approach with the cover of darkness again proves unfortunate, as the magic one and the talker make their escape with the dark one trapped within the camp. Eventually he is able to return to the group, though apparently injured in his escape.

Another days travel brings them to the graveyards. The event is set as the gholdaku charges towards their location. Guardians of the graves interrupt the effort as the two join forces to take down the giant. Their attempt is successful, though at a couple of sacrifices – The dark one finds himself on the edge of the vale, while the female has begun her journey across the River Stix.

Session 6

They sleep for far too long. Dormancy is setting in. They finally begin to move, travelling north further into the mountains. He watches them from a distance. Biding time. A cliff poses a problem for them to move forward at a steady pace. They begin to climb, as he sees his opening to draw them out. They spot him in time to gather as the magic one closes in. He attacks, stirring the rest of them and pulling them over in the excitement of battle. Dust churns and traps are sprung, with the woman soldier is embraced by metal. He leads them away, though the masked one and another are the ones to follow. He leads them through the maze until they evade his traps. They cease pursuit and rejoined the rest of them. He will be letting them travel further. There are other ways. They travel for days back down the mountain and towards the desert. Finally reaching near their destination, they begin to walk the flatlands. They deal with the heat easily enough. The local fauna does not seem to be a risk to them, either. At least not at the moment, as they gather hide and meat from a basilisk. A few days of travel in the sands have started to take their toll though.

Session 5

Wake. Eat nothing. Drink barely anything. Look. Follow. Hears him in the woods. Follow the sounds. Softer and louder and softer and louder and louder and louder until he is in front. On a tree. Sitting perfectly still. Pounces. Everyone runs through the woods and towards the lake. Everything safe. They walk back to the camp meeting the others with fruit and water. Cross the river to the path. Clear and safe. Travel takes long. Day. Another day. Another day. Tired. Hungry. Thirsty. Sick. Tired. No more grass. No more cover. Everything is getting warmer and clearer and hungry tired sick. They study the maps until travel north. Find water. Sleep. Follow water north. Sleep. Tired. Hungry. Scouting and hunting. Trouble. LION. They fight and scare off the big cat. Opportunity for food. Track down the cat and find where it’s tending to its wounds as they ambush and kill. Bring back the body and eat. They rest. They keep traveling north with renewed spirit. Food and water in their bodies as they travel north still until reaching the mountains and continue to travel more. They come across a large man with a tree for a club as a boulder flies towards them. They scatter and maneuver. For the first time, almost a team. They take down the ogre with ease and raid his layer. They rest.

Session 4

The sneaky one survived they rest until the others wake finally come back to the world of the living until the dark-skinned one begins to cry and shout and withdraw as the three begin to argue and complain while the small one and other sit uncomfortably watching and waiting noise in grasses enemy run chase run hide wait. We hide in trees and grasses for hours until we know the chase is over. We begin to make our way into the woods. Dirt becomes soft and trees become heavy. Everything is wet. Little one can’t walk. Girls get higher to see and buzzing sound from above. Big bugs. Following map to camps. One to another. To another. Finally a raft. Follow map to the river. Finally sun and fresh water. And a path. Silent one says it is safe. Camp. Rest.

Session 3

17th of Rova:

Our trip down river has proved quite eventful. As we rested on the riverbank to gather our thoughts and perhaps reawaken our guide, it appears that a large crab-like creature found interest in our raft… As well as Owen. After some quick thinking from one of our newer friends, we were able to tangle up the beast long enough to kill it without serious harm to Owen or Marian.

Afterwards, Pormas did awaken though was not in the best of spirits. After leaving us behind, he began to make his way down the river alone on the raft. Myself and Harman were able to catch up to him and convince him that it was for the best that we travel together and complete our mission. He (reluctantly) agreed and we reconvened on the raft. It has certainly been an interesting day.

19th of Rova

During our journey through the winding estuaries of the swamps (which Pormas seems to be very familiar with, luckily) we came across what could possibly be a small contingent of the enemy forces. After discussing several possibilities, Marian has decided that it would be best that we simply wait them out and keep a low profile until they move on. At this point, we will rest.

Session 2

14th of Rova, in the Year 187 EN:

I write this with great difficulty from my cot. Recalling the last couple day’s events…

Myself and Rusk approached a tent that had mysteriously been set up in the middle of Pramaya. Peering in, we saw a small woman encircled with candles apparently meditating within. However, our investigation was brought to a sudden halt when I heard a noise just beyond the edge of the trees. When Rusk took a peak, he saw a group of men (well, a hobgoblin leading a group of small froglike creatures) were coming into the town. They attacked the tent and, when it had collapsed and revealed our presence, showed aggression towards us. From what I was told afterwards, I rushed into battle and was quickly brought to unconciousness with a slew of small arrows (However, this and the following I do not recall).

My friends, along with the help of a man who was apparently held captive by the savages, were able to defeat a couple of the frog men before the rest decided to retreat from combat. At that point, Owen and myself were carried to our tents.

16th of Rova:

Writing on a raft is proving quite difficult, though at the moment I have the first sense of peace in days.

While settling into our new “home” as we were about to cast off, a large winged creature came bearing down on us over the river. It attacked with (what turned out later to be) flaming bolts from its rider’s crossbow, as it swooped onto us. Rusk was able to send the man into the water as our new ally proved useful, sending his own bolt directly into our attacker’s chest.

We have loaded our supplies (as well as an unconscious river guide) onto the raft and sent ourselves adrift down the Rakitan.

Session 1

8th of Rova, in the Year of 187 Edar Navnika:

The troops remaining from the individual flights arrived mid day in Pramaya. We were ordered to have our units set up camp and told to organize patrols from the surviving soldiers. During deployment, I was finally able to meet up with my long-seen friends. We were lucky enough (being the only actual ranked soldiers to arrive) to be given priority over the other men, however we were still required to participate in the night watches.

12th of Rova:

Last night, an interesting event occurred. During our night watch, at just about the height of moonlight, we investigated a noise (a scream, to be exact) from just outside the gates. A man was in a tussle with a small creature, whom Marian and myself dispatched of. We secured the creature while Owen brought the elder man back to camp.

13th of Rova:

We were called to HQ by Captain Moren after we and the captain were apparently able to investigate the LINESHAVEBEENBLACKENEDOUT

We are to leave in a few days with the assistance of Pormas. We have reached a slight complication in the plans when a confrontation with the hermit just outside of Pramaya ended with unfortunately. However, we were able to procure the necessary supplies.